Get in touch with someone from here: http://www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org/
They do a lot of work in this area and will have the best advice on what things you can do to help.
Ask HN: I'm 15, won a grant to develop a suicide prevention app, what next?
81–90 of 161 posts
Re: Ask HN: I'm 15, won a grant to develop a suicide prevention app, what next?
#82You are working on something important, and I was glad to read (and upvote) a lot of the other comments you received, and especially the offers for pro-bono help. One comment below suggested that you read the literature (I presume that means the literature about suicide prevention) and I would second that advice. To expand that advice a bit, I'll note that Martin E. P. Seligman and some other psychologists who have s…
I'm curious as to what you are saying here. Poor self esteem is healthier? People shouldn't have self esteem, positive or negative? Or they should, but we should ignore it?
I think he's saying that falsely implanted self-esteen, a la "everyones a unique special winner!", is a problem. When everyone is told over and over again while growing up that they are great and their self-esteem is artificially inflated, they inevitably experience some amount of cognitive dissonance and maybe even depression at the realization somewhere down the road that they're probably not as unique, special, talented, or great as they were told they were as a kid.
This could set someone up for any number of positive or negative effects, emotions, or actions, from long term depression or suicidal feelings to a burning desire to really improve themselves to actually become that unique and talented person they were told they are.
Re: Ask HN: I'm 15, won a grant to develop a suicide prevention app, what next?
#83You are working on something important, and I was glad to read (and upvote) a lot of the other comments you received, and especially the offers for pro-bono help. One comment below suggested that you read the literature (I presume that means the literature about suicide prevention) and I would second that advice. To expand that advice a bit, I'll note that Martin E. P. Seligman and some other psychologists who have s…
I'm curious as to what you are saying here. Poor self esteem is healthier? People shouldn't have self esteem, positive or negative? Or they should, but we should ignore it?
I think that sometimes increasing your self-esteem depends on factors totally outside of your control. However, a lot of self-esteem programs seem to think that change depends entirely on the individual. Depression comes from the difference between reality and what you think it should be.
Re: Ask HN: I'm 15, won a grant to develop a suicide prevention app, what next?
#84You are working on something important, and I was glad to read (and upvote) a lot of the other comments you received, and especially the offers for pro-bono help. One comment below suggested that you read the literature (I presume that means the literature about suicide prevention) and I would second that advice. To expand that advice a bit, I'll note that Martin E. P. Seligman and some other psychologists who have s…
I second the advice to familiarize yourself with the literature, and would like to add a strong word of caution at the same time. A disclaimer: I speak out of personal experience with this topic, and I did not read most of the comments that you've already received (sorry, wish I had the time). So here's my word of caution: You must be aware that you are intentionally brainwashing yourself into a biased worldview by r…
Way to dump your own depressive tendencies on a 15 year old. Jesus.
Re: Ask HN: I'm 15, won a grant to develop a suicide prevention app, what next?
#85You are working on something important, and I was glad to read (and upvote) a lot of the other comments you received, and especially the offers for pro-bono help. One comment below suggested that you read the literature (I presume that means the literature about suicide prevention) and I would second that advice. To expand that advice a bit, I'll note that Martin E. P. Seligman and some other psychologists who have s…
I second the advice to familiarize yourself with the literature, and would like to add a strong word of caution at the same time. A disclaimer: I speak out of personal experience with this topic, and I did not read most of the comments that you've already received (sorry, wish I had the time). So here's my word of caution: You must be aware that you are intentionally brainwashing yourself into a biased worldview by r…
Obviously, you have strong opinions about this subject and I will try to tread carefully, but your comment reads like you are not in favor an app that attempts to assist in preventing suicide.
And on this point: > To understand suicide, you have to understand wanting to kill yourself, and you cannot understand this intellectually, you have to have experienced it yourself.
Not all people who attempt suicide have the same mindset. I know people who have attempted suicide (one guy's face is disfigured due to a self-inflicted gun shot) and they do not even remotely suggest that suicide could possibly be anything but bad.
Re: Ask HN: I'm 15, won a grant to develop a suicide prevention app, what next?
#86Earlier quoted context omitted.
I second the advice to familiarize yourself with the literature, and would like to add a strong word of caution at the same time. A disclaimer: I speak out of personal experience with this topic, and I did not read most of the comments that you've already received (sorry, wish I had the time). So here's my word of caution: You must be aware that you are intentionally brainwashing yourself into a biased worldview by r…
Way to dump your own depressive tendencies on a 15 year old. Jesus.
Way to dump your own depressive tendencies on a 15 year old. Jesus.
^-- A perfect example of the ignorance that I mentioned, thank you.
To Krish: remember, people who contemplate suicide are constantly faced with such ignorance, and so in the cultures where such attitudes are common, suicide happens unexpectedly (and this is most of the world). Then people "wish they could have said how much they loved them", etc. etc.
Re: Ask HN: I'm 15, won a grant to develop a suicide prevention app, what next?
#87Congrats man, well done! This list of cognitive distortions and how to fix them might be relevant: http://www.apsu.edu/sites/apsu.edu/files/counseling/COGNITIV... This was created by Dr. David Burns and is supported by research in cognitive therapy. The full information is available in his book "Feeling Good". The interactive medium could afford some interesting possibilities. Another thing that I remember reading is…
As someone who has read "Feeling Good" and is married to a therapist, I can not suggest this book enough. The general method is called Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_behavioral_therapy
The key idea is that our thoughts control how we feel, not the events or surroundings of our lives. A person who is considering suicide often has a very different view of events because of their thought process. The idea of CBT is to change the way you think and by doing so you are able to feel differently about the events in your life.
However, I would never suggest that someone simply start applying CBT on their own with out some guidance. I am very nervous about how you want to make this a social application. Depression can be a very personal and embarrassing disease for a person and even positive encouragement can cause more depression.
Lets say we have a kid named Stan. Stan is a very depressed kid who is considering suicide. He manages to let his friend Bobby know that he has been considering killing himself. Bobby is shocked as Stan is a very bright and successful kid. Bobby tells Stan that he 'can't believe that Stan would want to do such a thing' and that 'he has so much to live for.' Bobby thinks that he is helping Stan, but Stan views this very differently. Stan thinks, 'No one understands me, Bobby is just saying that to make me feel better.' While the temporary relief of telling someone was something that Stan really wanted to do, in the end it only ends up making him feel more depressed.
The reason behind this sort of thinking is because of the Cognitive Distortions. Stan's perception of reality is vastly different because of them. It is for this reason that I am concerned about how you make this a social application. In my opinion the best thing you can do for a person who is considering suicide is to get them to a trained professional.
Re: Ask HN: I'm 15, won a grant to develop a suicide prevention app, what next?
#88Earlier quoted context omitted.
I second the advice to familiarize yourself with the literature, and would like to add a strong word of caution at the same time. A disclaimer: I speak out of personal experience with this topic, and I did not read most of the comments that you've already received (sorry, wish I had the time). So here's my word of caution: You must be aware that you are intentionally brainwashing yourself into a biased worldview by r…
Obviously, you have strong opinions about this subject and I will try to tread carefully, but your comment reads like you are not in favor an app that attempts to assist in preventing suicide. And on this point: > To understand suicide, you have to understand wanting to kill yourself, and you cannot understand this intellectually, you have to have experienced it yourself. Not all people who attempt suicide have the s…
> Not all people who attempt suicide have the same mindset. I know people who have attempted suicide (one guy's face is disfigured due to a self-inflicted gun shot) and they do not even remotely suggest that suicide could possibly be anything but bad.
Yes, that's a great point. There are a variety of viewpoints to consider, and it's important to understand the context in which they all occur.
I'm sure the person you're referring to did not have that opinion a few moments before pulling the trigger, otherwise he wouldn't have done it. The surviving individual cannot be said to be the same one who pulled the trigger, in spite of appearances. His life went on, and in a radically different direction.
Re: Ask HN: I'm 15, won a grant to develop a suicide prevention app, what next?
#89I'm probably wrong about this, and I know very little psychology, but I am under the impression that suicidal people don't admit to having a problem. Also, they don't hope to find help, either coz they think or know it's out of reach, or don't know help is available. If this was not so, I would imagine they'd seek this help rather than take their lives, which is a sign of someone giving up hope.
Now, installing an app for suicide prevention looks to me like an act by someone who HASN'T given up hope. And if you haven't given up hope, you are already walking away from the brink. And if you're already walking away from the brink, maybe you're not suicidal?
My feeling here is that an app for reaching out or talking someone out of taking their life may not be the best approach to reaching such a person to make them pull back. Of course the journey to suicide is long and complex, and there must be many points at which an intervention is useful and where your app will play a part, but I just feel like there might be a disconnect between the people who should use your app and those who would use your app.
Be that as it may, like I said, I'm not a psychologist, and most likely my assumptions are wrong. I imagine the literature on suicide being mentioned talks about this in detail and from a professional point of view. All the same, I wish you all the best in your project and hope it succeeds.
Re: Ask HN: I'm 15, won a grant to develop a suicide prevention app, what next?
#90I'm quite interested in suicide prevention, having lost several friends to suicide over the years. I'd do it pro bono. If you're interested, let me know - my e-mail is in my profile.
To everyone interested in helping- I would definitely love to get all the help possible from you guys, so I'll make this an open-source project. I'm figuring out th logistics of everything right now, I'll try to contact you guys with more details as soon as possible. Thanks guys, I'm really looking forward to this :)
Would also be interested in lending a hand where I can (after being able to read up on the vision behind the app). Feel free to contact me with the project details once you've got set up.